The people’s lawyer’s 15-month fight to stick it to weed-loving Colorado came to an end in late March with a 6-2 vote by the nation’s highest court.
According to USA Today, the justices declined to hear Oklahoma and Nebraska’s “grievances about pot-related crime” without seeking to go through lower courts first.
At Chicken-Fried News, we imagine the decision bummed out Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.
The two-term AG missed few opportunities to discuss that petition, which argued pot purchased legally in Colorado led to more illegal drugs crossing into the Sooner State.
“Colorado has nonetheless chosen to make the possession and use of marijuana legal for purpose of Colorado state law,” Pruitt wrote in a Dec. 26, 2014, Tulsa World opinion piece. “More power to them. Even if I wholeheartedly disagree with that choice as a matter of policy, I agree that it’s Colorado’s prerogative to do so — even if the change in state law does nothing to change the fact that possession and use of marijuana remain a federal crime in Colorado.”
Last fall, Stillwater News Press quoted Pruitt as saying, “The beef we have is that Congress has spoken and the Department of Justice isn’t acting. It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do because of the perception. … They’ve committed federal felonies every day in Colorado and nobody is doing a thing about it.”
Wait a second! So, is the lawsuit about protecting Oklahomans from illegal drugs or punishing Coloradoans for legalizing marijuana and ignoring federal law?
It has to be about safeguarding citizens from doobies and pot brownies. After all, the attorney general is the state’s chief legal officer serving as a counselor to lawmakers, state agencies and citizens.
Print headline: Bigger fights
